Is Facebook the Best Platform for Mobile Developers?

by Developer.com Staff

An analyst argues that the social network does a better job than Apple or Google at helping mobile development firms earn money.

The mobile development industry is often portrayed as a contest between two competing platforms—Apple's iOS and Google's Android. But VisionMobile analyst Stijn Schuermans is arguing that a third platform—Facebook—actually offers developers the best deal.

According to VisionMobile, the average iOS or Android app earns less than $4,000. Facebook has a three-part strategy to help its developers earn more: offering an excellent set of tools in its SDK, making Facebook the central hub for users' digital lives and providing extremely effective mobile advertising tools.

ReadWrite's Matt Asay writes, "Facebook, once the mobile laggard, is now a mobile leader, particularly with developers. While it still has a long way to go, its strategy of making it easy for developers to build for its platform, coupled with its efforts to make applications an effective advertising target, is winning over developers and stealing a march on Google and Apple."